QA Level 3 Award in First Aid at Work (RQF)

This qualification is valid for a period of 3 years. The Learner needs to retake the qualification before the certificate expiry date to remain qualified.

Qualification Overview

This qualification forms part of the QA First Aid suite of qualifications.
The qualification and learning outcomes are based on the recommendations of:

• Resuscitation Council (UK).

• Assessment Principles for Regulated First Aid Qualifications.

This QA qualification is:

• For people who deal with first aid in the workplace enabling them to be workplace first aiders under the Health and Safety (First Aid) Regulations 1981.

• Based on the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) training standard for delivery of First Aid at Work courses for the purposes of the Health and Safety (First Aid) Regulations 1981.

This qualification should enable Learners to attain the knowledge and practical competencies needed to deal with a range of emergency first aid situations.

Learners should be able to demonstrate the practical administration of safe, prompt, effective first aid in emergency situations with an understanding of the role of first aider.

This qualification specification provides information for Centres about the delivery of the QA Level 3 Award in Emergency First Aid at Work (RQF) and includes the unit information, assessment methods and quality assurance arrangements.

Objective

The objective of the qualification is to benefit Learners by preparing them to deal with a range of first aid situations and/or taken the role of first aider in the workplace.
Intended audience
This qualification is for people who have a specific responsibility at work, or in voluntary and community activities, to provide help to people in a range of first aid situations.

Purpose
This qualification should enable Learners to attain the knowledge and practical competencies needed to deal with a range of first aid situations.
Learners should be able to demonstrate the practical administration of safe, prompt, effective first aid in emergency situations with an understanding of the role of first aider.
This qualification specification provides information for Centres about the delivery of the QA Level 3 Award in First Aid at Work (RQF) and includes the unit information, assessment methods and quality assurance arrangements.

Intended audience.

This qualification is for people who have a specific responsibility at work, or in voluntary and community activities, to provide basic first aid to people in a range of emergency first aid situations.

Structure

This qualification contains 2 mandatory units with a Total Qualification Time (TQT) of 22 hours. Full details of these units are in Appendix 1. 

Learners must complete all assessments in the unit successfully within the registration period to achieve the qualification. The maximum period to achieve this qualification, including any referrals is 10 weeks. 

TQT is the total number of hours required for a Learner to achieve this qualification. It has 2 elements: 

• Guided Learning Hours (GLH) is the time a Learner is being taught and assessed under the immediate guidance of a Trainer/Assessor, which for this qualification is 18 GLH (minimum), and 

• The number of hours a Learner will reasonably be likely to spend in preparation and study, including assessment, as directed by, but not under the immediate guidance or supervision of a Trainer, e.g. home study, which for this qualification is 4 hours

Relationship with other related qualifications

The QA Level 3 Award in Emergency First Aid at Work (RQF):

• Contains 1 unit that also appears as Unit 1 (Emergency First Aid in the Work) of the QA Level 3 Award in First Aid at Work (RQF)

Therefore assessments gained through the Emergency First Aid in the Workplace unit may be used as RPL towards achievement of either qualification providing that qualification is achieved within its registration period.

Entry requirements

Learners must be at least 14 years old to register for this qualification. There are no other formal entry requirements but to benefit from the learning we advise that learners have a minimum of Level 1 in literacy or numeracy or equivalent.

Progression

The QA Level 3 Award in Emergency First Aid at Work (RQF) may be used towards other qualifications at the same and higher level, plus aid career progression in a relevant profession.

Requalification requirements

This qualification is valid for a period of 3 years. The Learner needs to retake the qualification before the certificate expiry date to remain qualified. 

It is possible to reduce GLH when requalifying and attend a 12 hour FAW requalifying course. In order to attend a 12 hour requalifying course, Learners must produce their current or previous recently expired FAW certificate. The certificate should be in a format as accepted by the HSE. Requalification training should be delivered in no less than 12 hours (2 days) excluding breaks.

Expired FAW certificates

If the Learner’s previous FAW certificate will have expired by more than one month at the start of FAW requalification course, the Centre must, in advance, provide the Learner/their Employer with the following information: 

FAW requalification courses are only 12 hours in duration, compared to 18 hours for the initial course. This means that the syllabus is covered at a significantly faster pace in the understanding that learners are familiar with the topics. 

Health and Safety Executive (HSE) guidance is clear that if an employee’s FAW certificate expires, they are “no longer considered competent to act as a first-aider in the workplace”. For this reason, you should make every effort to requalify a first aider before the certificate expires. 

Employers and Learners should be aware that there is an increased risk of failing to achieve the required standard if previous certification has expired by a considerable period (HSE defines this as in excess of 1 month). If this is the case, HSE recommends “it may be prudent to complete a 3 day course”. 

Is Your Workplace Prepared?

Did you know that an estimated 609,000 workers in Britain sustained an injury at work in 2016/17?
The Health and Safety (First Aid) Regulations 1981 require all employers to make arrangements to ensure their employees receive immediate attention if they are injured or taken ill at work. This includes carrying out a risk assessment, appointing a suitable amount of first aiders and providing appropriate first aid training. However, having the correct first aid provision in the workplace is not just a legal requirement, it is incredibly important for the safety of all members of staff!

The QA Level 3 Award in  First Aid at Work (RQF) qualification is designed for individuals who wish to act as a  first aider in their workplace. Upon successful completion of this qualification, candidates will be equipped with the essential skills needed to give safe, prompt and effective first aid in emergency situations.

What’s more, as a regulated qualification, employers can book this course for their employees and rest assured that they have fulfilled their legal responsibilities for providing quality first aid training, without having to undertake any lengthy due diligence checks.

What’s Covered?

The following topics will covered:

• The role and responsibilities of a first aider

• Assessing an incident

• Managing an unresponsive casualty

• CPR and defibrillation

• Recovery Position

• Heart Attack

• Stroke

• Choking

• Epilepsy

• Asthma

• Diabetes

• Anaphylaxis Shock

• Head and spinal injuries

• Chest injuries

• Wounds and bleeding

• Fractures

• Sprains, strains and dislocations

• Minor injuries

• Burns and scalds

• Poisoning

• Eye injuries